Search Results for: what is a reasonable grocery budget

Eating Healthy on a Budget

As a single parent money is tight about 99.9% of the time, ok let’s face it, it’s more like 100%. While eating healthy may be important to you, you may think you simply cannot afford it. Don’t worry, most of us feel that way from time to time. Money is scarce and junk food is cheaper. But there are some tricks to make eating healthy affordable, even on a single parent budget. Next time you are at the grocery store try stopping by the deli. Believe it or not, a half pound of cheddar freshly sliced at the deli will … Continue reading →

Extreme Grocery Bill Makeover: HOW I Put My Kids In Charge

Earlier today, I left you pondering this: What would happen if I put my kids in charge of buying their own food? Clearly they consume the most food in the house, and I wondered if they had to spend their own money, if it would cause us to spend less overall. So I am engaging in a little experiment. Here are the rules: The twins don’t count: their food is all on us. They don’t get the concept of saving money and frankly, they’ll eat whatever is on their plate. My four year old only has to spend her own … Continue reading →

Five Budget Busters

Once you sit down and right out your budget you should begin to notice that you have a few categories that are causing you a little bit of a problem. These categories are generally known as budget busters. Once you realize that you are overspending in these categories, it can be difficult to find ways to cut back. It may mean that you simply do not go shopping, or that you shop sells. You may choose to switch these categories to the envelope system, which will help to stop excessive spending. Here are five common budget busters and ways to … Continue reading →

Forced to Pay for School Lunches

A new trend seems to be emerging. Some schools are now banning lunches made at home and are requiring kids to buy lunch at the school. The reasoning behind the decision is stated as a need for kids to eat healthier lunches, but is it just a ploy to get you to spend? First, let us tackle the financial aspect of it. I really don’t think that this is not, yes, not, a new revenue stream for most schools. School lunches are subsidized by the government, event the ones that parents pay for. A standard lunch usually costs a student … Continue reading →

When to Buy Prepared Food and How to Save

When I share frugal living and saving money tips, people always want to know how they can start saving money right away at the grocery store without using coupons. People either love coupons or hate them, but that is another subject for a blog post. One of the first things I tell these eager to save folks is to stop or cut down on the prepared food items. Bagged salad, dinner kits, individually wrapped snacks and other such items (even pancake mix) tend to cost a lot more and you get a lot less. The more natural or basic a … Continue reading →

Gospel Questions: About Food Storage

My non-member friend asked me: Why do Mormons stockpile food? Do they think the world is coming to an end? In a nutshell, yes, we do. That answer is a little bit flippant. Let me elaborate. In the Book of Revelations, we read of calamities that will befall in the last days. These are passages that are familiar to those who have read the Bible, and the End Times prophecies are familiar to all Christian religions. The leaders of the LDS Church have encouraged us to put up a reserve of nonperishable food in our homes so that we might … Continue reading →

Is it Just Me?

Take a moment to look through some of the magazines in your home, or if you don’t have any, pick up a copy of one of the prominent ones sometime. Do you feel like it was written with someone like you in mind? While many magazines do a great job of covering topics that a number of women can relate to (budget, diet, exercise, clothes, hair, make up, medicine, cooking/recipes, cleaning, decorating, raising kids, careers, cars, and more) there are times when I question what “everyday” or “average” really means. I recently looked through some lists of what were supposed … Continue reading →

Stretch Your Paycheck

More than 63 percent of America’s workers are still living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Payroll Association, and I would guess that percentage is higher for single parent families. (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cheap/20031028a2.asp) Living from paycheck to paycheck can be stressful and hinder us from saving or meeting other financial goals. Lack of income is not always the main problem. Overspending and living outside of a budget can sometimes be a bigger hindrance than being underpaid. Try some of the following tips to help stretch your earnings. 1. Create a budget and stick to it even … Continue reading →